Europa secures Customs Warehouse Authorisation

Europa Warehouse in Corby which was constructed and commissioned at the height of the pandemic, is based at Midlands Logistics Park. It has achieved Customs Warehouse Authorisation by HMRC, marking the next major step in its investment programme to better support the pain points of traditional and ecommerce retailers.

This latest authorisation means that its facility is authorised to store general goods that are subject to customs and VAT. This, coupled with, Europa's 'wet bond' accreditation provides a real advantage for customers managing tight cashflows, allowing them to suspend customs, excise and VAT payments until their goods are sold.

Dionne Redpath, Head of Warehouse Division and COO of Europa Worldwide Group, comments: “With the current economic headwind putting strain on ecommerce, retailers and wholesalers everywhere, many of our customers are managing tight cashflows. This is pain point we have a long-held ambition to solve.

“Customs Bonded Warehousing can assist, allowing traders to import goods into the UK, hold them in the Bonded Warehouse without having to outlay Duty and VAT until goods have been sold and dispatched. For example, if an importer purchases gym equipment which attracts four per cent duty, the duty and VAT will be suspended until the importer sells the cargo in the UK.

“This is a real cashflow benefit because it means goods can be stored ahead of seasonal peaks without our warehouse customers footing heavy duty costs immediately. Instead, businesses can accurately anticipate supply and demand, while only paying necessary duties on items that leave the warehouse, typically after they have been sold.”

In addition to the Corby site Europa’s portfolio of warehouses includes Dartford, and Birmingham and offers over one million sq. ft combined of dedicated warehouse and logistics space and are now fully authorised customs warehouses. The most recent investments within the warehouse division have been the construction of the £60m Corby warehouse, which is capable of storing up to 100,000 pallets and processes up to 50,000 units of goods per day through its £11m automation system.